Ezekiel Chapter 41
1 He brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits wide on the one side, and six cubits wide on the other side, which was the width of the tent.
2 The width of the entrance was ten cubits; and the sides of the entrance were five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side. He measured its length, forty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits.
3 Then he went inward and measured each post of the entrance, two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the width of the entrance, seven cubits.
4 He measured its length, twenty cubits, and the width, twenty cubits, before the temple. He said to me, "This is the most holy place."
5 Then he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the width of every side room, four cubits, all around the house on every side.
6 The side rooms were in three storeys, one over another, and thirty in order. They entered into the wall which belonged to the house for the side rooms all around, that they might be supported, and not penetrate the wall of the house.
7 The side rooms were wider on the higher levels, because the walls were narrower at the higher levels. Therefore the width of the house increased upward; and so one went up from the lowest level to the highest through the middle level.
8 I saw also that the house had a raised base all around. The foundations of the side rooms were a full reed of six great cubits.
9 The thickness of the wall, which was for the side rooms, on the outside, was five cubits. That which was left was the place of the side rooms that belonged to the house.
10 Between the rooms was a width of twenty cubits around the house on every side.
11 The doors of the side rooms were towards an open area that was left, one door towards the north, and another door towards the south. The width of the open area was five cubits all around.
12 The building that was before the separate place at the side towards the west was seventy cubits wide; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length ninety cubits.
13 So he measured the house, one hundred cubits long; and the separate place, and the building, with its walls, one hundred cubits long;
14 also the width of the face of the house, and of the separate place towards the east, one hundred cubits.
15 He measured the length of the building before the separate place which was at its back, and its galleries on the one side and on the other side, one hundred cubits from the inner temple, and the porches of the court
16 the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries around on their three storeys, opposite the threshold, with wood ceilings all around, and from the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered),
17 to the space above the door, even to the inner house, and outside, and by all the wall all around inside and outside, by measure.
18 It was made with cherubim and palm trees. A palm tree was between cherub and cherub, and every cherub had two faces;
19 so that there was the face of a man towards the palm tree on the one side, and the face of a young lion towards the palm tree on the other side. It was made like this through all the house all around.
20 Cherubim and palm trees were made from the ground to above the door. The wall of the temple was like this.
21 As for the temple, the door posts were squared. As for the face of the sanctuary, its appearance was as the appearance of the temple.
22 The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits. Its corners, its length, and its walls were of wood. He said to me, "This is the table that is before the LORD."
23 The temple and the sanctuary had two doors.
24 The doors had two leaves each, two turning leaves: two for the one door, and two leaves for the other.
25 There were made on them, on the doors of the temple, cherubim and palm trees, like those made on the walls. There was a threshold of wood on the face of the porch outside.
26 There were closed windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch. This is how the side rooms of the house and the thresholds were arranged.
Footnotes
- Verse 2 (Cubit)
- A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man's arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimetres.
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Ezekiel Chapter 41 Guide
Passing to the Temple proper, the prophet portrayed it first from the outside, describing the actual Temple, with its Holy Place, and Holy of Holies, then the side chambers; and, finally, another separate building, ending with the general dimensions of the inner court, the house buildings, and the separate building.
This was followed by a description of the woodwork within, and its ornamentation. The technicalities are difficult to follow, but it is clear that the general effect of the beautiful work was of cherubim and palm trees, which symbolized the perfection of spiritual appreciation and material well-being.
It is interesting to notice the two types of life represented by the two faces of the cherubim, one being a man and the other a young lion. Interpreted by the earlier symbolism of the prophecy, this suggested perfect realization of created life, and its perfect exercise in kingly dominion.
Both the Holy Place and the Holiest of all were entered by two-leaved doors, each of the leaves being again divided, making them what we would call folding doors. These too were adorned with cherubim and palm trees.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
Ezekiel Chapter 41 Commentary
Verses 1-26
After the prophet had observed the courts, he was brought to the temple. If we attend to instructions in the plainer parts of religion, and profit by them, we shall be led further into an acquaintance with the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.